


Seven Minutes in... Combat?

by Word_Devourer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Borderline crack, Clusterfluff, Definitely not pure crack, Do you know what Marinette does when everything goes to hell all at once?, F/M, I have a few ideas, Oddly fluffy considering the premise, Rated for Alya's Incorrect (if logical) Conclusion, humorous miscommunication, marinette knows, one-sided reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-07 14:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16409951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Word_Devourer/pseuds/Word_Devourer
Summary: Marinette knows.  Adrien doesn't.  And Alya?Alya has the wrong idea entirely.





	1. The Only Possible Explanation

**Author's Note:**

> Rated T for Alya's interpretation of events being a bit much for a G-rating, even if she's very vague about it.

Marinette sat down at her seat the next morning, still tired, but overall, quite satisfied.  The judges had liked her submission, the food had been good, and-

Alya was staring intently at her.

She looked back.

Alya raised her eyebrows.

The look changed to confusion.

Eyebrows a bit higher, still amused.

“Have fun last night?”

“Alya?”

“You weren’t as sneaky as you thought.”

Marinette’s heart was suddenly beating fit to burst; she’d been so _sure_ that nobody had seen her sneaking out.  No, even if someone  _had_ seen her slip into the bathroom, they hadn't seen her transform, so what was Alya-

“My only question is… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Alya, I-“

“I mean really?  7 minutes?  I hope you were just making out because if you weren’t I’m going to have _words_ with-”

“What!?”

\--

There was no other explanation.

She’d gone along to the show to support Marinette, as her +1 (Adrien certainly couldn’t take it, if only because he was already invited), and, frankly, with all the hero-inspired designs, she had hoped to get some supplementary content for the Ladyblog.  Win-win, all things considered.

And _then…_   Midway through the show, (she’d only even noticed because her phone had buzzed, interrupting her picture-taking), she’d seen a notification.  A few seconds later, she checked it, and had turned to tell Marinette that there had been a villain attack, only to see… Marinette, slipping surreptitiously into a bathroom.

Alya, slightly confused by her manner, hadn’t looked back for a second, and, in fact, was _still_ looking when _Adrien Agreste_ followed her into the same bathroom, entered, and closed the door behind him.

Those were single-person bathrooms.  Even if they hadn’t been, it would have raised some eyebrows to see Marinette and Adrien going into the same one.

The old show?  Uninteresting.  This?  _Exciting, fresh,_ and perfect material to tease Marinette about.

She started a new video.

A minute passed.  Unsurprising.  Two minutes.  When a third minute had come and gone, she’d almost been surprised.  Around minute four, Alya started to doubt her own eyes and memory.  Minutes five and six were the worst; she had missed a significant portion of the show, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the door.

Minute seven began, and _finally,_ Marinette left the room, and sat down next to her, carefully steadying her breathing.  Oh yeah.  She’d definitely been engaging in _something_ that had left her out of breath.

Alya just managed to keep her camera on the door long enough to confirm that _yes_ , Adrien was leaving _the same bathroom._

Alya had decided… Yes.  This would be best saved for later.  A public event, where one of Marinette’s designs was being featured (In an amateur category, but still) was _not_ the place.  The next day, though, even at school, would be _much_ more fun.

\--

“What are you talking about?” said Marinette, with exceptionally well-feigned shock.

“I guess I should be congratulating you?  Pretty gutsy, I’ve got to say; at a public event?  _With Adrien?”_

“Alya you need to explain things before you just start _saying_ them!”

 _“I saw Adrien follow you into that bathroom._   You didn’t come out for _7 minutes,_ girl.”

The color drained from Marinette’s face.  “No. Oh no, no no no no.”

“Oh _yes,”_ she said, grinning.  “Don’t worry, I don’t share secrets.”  She winked, “I don’t tell people that my best friend’s crush followed her into the bathroom at a public event, and followed her out _7 minutes_ later.”

“No no no no no no wait what?” Marinette’s head snapped up to her again.

“You heard me.”

“Did you say he… Followed _me_ out?  Like, he was in there _after_ I was?”

“Got the timeline a little skewed, huh?  I’ll be honest, I get that, it's happened to me once or twice.”

“No.  No, that’s not- He _couldn’t_ have been there _after_ I was there, you must have had the wrong room.”

“ _These_ eyes don’t lie, and the _video_ doesn’t either.  You want me to send it to you, I’ll send it to you, but honestly, why does _that_ of all things matter to you?”

\--

Alya had to be wrong.  There was no way that had happened because…  Because that would mean Adrien had been there when she had transformed back.  But there hadn’t _been_ anyone in there when she’d turned back.  There hadn’t been _space_ for it, nor anywhere to hide, nor... Well, anything!  But Alya said she had video of it, which meant Adrien _had_ to have been…

It didn’t make sense.  It didn’t make sense, and it didn’t matter that it didn’t make sense, because she couldn’t tell Alya _why_ it didn’t make sense, or, more urgently, convince Alya that nothing had happened.

\--

As the school day had slowly passed, the idea had grown no less amusing to Alya, and she had, in fact, ironed out some of the details.

The logic went as follows:

  1. Adrien and Marinette had clearly been enjoying each other’s company at that party.
  2. Marinette did her best to deny it entirely
  3. Ergo, it was entirely possible that they had previously acted similarly.
  4. They had _never_ actually found out who had kissed Adrien when Zombizou attacked. It could have been someone random, but it was still suspicious.
  5. Especially since Marinette had quickly gone missing as well and had only shown up _after_ things were resolved.
  6. _Actually_ , they _both_ went missing during villain attacks more often than not. Almost _always,_ in fact.
  7. Adrien’s home life was extremely restricted, and he was watched extremely closely.
  8. _No, wait, Gorizilla, hadn’t they been on a date?_ _Which Marinette had denied?_
  9. So, to solve the puzzle: Adrien, to get around restrictions and surveillance, had to keep his relationship very well hidden, and only _do_ anything when there was a villain attacking, and the rest of the world was busy being sieged by Hawkmoth.



Alya leaned back in her chair.

The logic was flawless, and, strange though it was that Adrien depended on Paris being threatened to have a girlfriend, she had to admit, his ingenuity was impressive.

Now, should she tell Marinette how much more she’d figured out?  Or not.

For now, she decided, maybe not.  She was probably already uncomfortable enough, which, to be fair, was mostly Alya’s fault, but if you couldn’t tease your best friend, what was the point of having one?

 _At least,_ she thought, _I can cover for them when they’ve got to get out of the way._

\--

Adrien had to have snuck out.  Surely.  He had to have snuck out, because otherwise, he would have been _in_ the bathroom.  _Except,_ the room had been on the 5 th floor.  He _couldn’t_ have snuck out.  And the video _showed_ him exiting the bathroom.

She’d mulled it over in her head and had come to a frightening conclusion.

  1. He’d entered the bathroom, and then left through another means.
  2. The only other means was the window.
  3. Adrien had left the bathroom through the window
  4. He’d followed her
  5. Out _and_ back
  6. At almost the exact same time
  7. She only knew one person with the ability and desire to do all of that.
  8. That person looked a lot like Adrien, and circumstances had overcome her natural reluctance to believe that…
  9. Adrien Agreste, _had to be,_ Chat Noir



She didn’t want to believe it, but she couldn’t _find_ any other options. 

She knew Chat Noir’s secret identity, and, if she wasn’t careful, Alya would make things extremely awkward, and maybe even tip him off.

This was going to be tricky.

\--

 “Alright, Plagg, I’m heading to bed.  Don’t get into too much trouble while I’m asleep.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Plagg.

Adrien settled into bed.  It had been a quiet day, today, and it was late enough he could hope for a quiet night.  With any luck, tomorrow would be quiet and he could pretend he was just an ordinary kid.


	2. Question:  Who Says Black Chats Are Unlucky?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien Agreste is on top of the world. Well rested and in a good mood. It doesn't feel like anything can bring him down.

Adrien woke up before his alarm went off, which was quite an achievement, all things considered.  He sat up, feeling the sleep shearing off him like water off a leaping dolphin.

He’d slept dreamlessly; not restless, as he was still kind of sleeping off the Akuma from the day before yesterday, but not anxious either, as he often got after a fight (they were dangerous, after all).

He stood up, already awake.  The sun hadn’t come up yet, but he flicked a switch, and the lights slowly came up.

Two extra minutes to shower, one extra to make sure his hair was perfect.  He even considered a different outfit; he still had some alternatives to his normal… Well, he might as well keep thwarting the paparazzi who were _still_ determined to get some pictures of him in some new clothes.

 _No thanks, paparazzi, we’ll save that for the photoshoots,_ he thought with a grin _._

He lost the remainder of his extra time waking up Plagg, taking a second to place a wedge of cheese in front of him.  He watched for a second, and Plagg didn’t move.  He shrugged and turned away to straighten his shirt in the mirror.

“Well _that’s_ a nice way to wake up,” said Plagg, maybe two seconds later.  The cheese was gone.

Adrien rolled his eyes with a smile.

“So, what’s got you so excited to get up at this unearthly hour?”

“I don’t know, Plagg, I’ve just got a good feeling about today.”

“Hm.  I still don’t see why that’s a reason to get up early.  If anything, it’s perfect opportunity to _lounge_ out and let the day pass.”

“Yeah, well you’re a cat, and I’ve got school.”

“Chat Noir doesn’t have school,” said Plagg hopefully.

“But Adrien Agreste does.”

He got ready for the day.  He was quite certain that whatever happened, the day was the one who’d need to be ready for him.

…

“Everything alright, Alya?” he said, smiling almost nervously back at Alya’s knowing smile.

She raised her eyebrows at him.

He suddenly staggered as-

“Oh hi, Marinette,” he said cheerily, straightening back up.

“Oh!  Hi, Adrien, sorry about, um, running into you like that.”

“No problem!  Probably shouldn’t have been standing in the door anyway, just getting in people’s ways.”

He sat down, and mostly forgot about Alya’s expression.

\--

Juleka sat down.  She would have sworn her expression was neutral, but-

“What’s going on, Juleka?”

She couldn’t have kept the soft smile off her face if she tried, and she didn’t want to.

“I saw something odd.”

“Odd like spooky?”

She laughed, a faint rush of air through the nose, and shook her head.  “No.  I think something’s going on with Marinette and Adrien.”

“What!?” said Rose, hitting a moderately painful pitch, “What’s going on?”

She shrugged.  “Nothing I could swear to.  Alya kept looking back and forth between them.  Marinette seemed embarrassed, but I think Alya thought something was funny.”

“Oh my gosh, do you think…” she trailed off, and Juleka turned to see her already massive eyes widen with a hopeful joy.  She could get lost in those eyes, and she would have by now, if Rose’s natural state didn’t seem to be ‘too caffeinated to stay in one place.’

“Do I think what?” she said, putting her chin in her hand.

“Maybe she’s _embarrassed_ because Alya found out they were together!”  She dropped to a whisper that was still louder than Juleka’s normal voice “Secretly, and now Alya keeps talking about it, and-

“Say what?” said Kim, turning around.

“I was just,” said Rose, and clapped her hands over her mouth.

Max looked back.  “Just…?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Juleka, “Rose had an idea, but I don’t think you’d be too interested.”

Max looked at her, and adjusted his glasses.  “The fact that you say that rather than explaining implies the issue is that you don’t want to tell us.  Please, if you don’t want to tell us, simply say so.  It’s simpler for all parties.”

“Say what?” said Kim.

“They don’t want to talk about it,” said Max, turning back to the front.

“Ah.  Why didn’t they just say so?”

“That’s what I was wondering.”

Still, for all it seemed unlikely, the exact kind of thing that only Rose would fabricate out of those points, because she wanted it to be true, Juleka had to admit, Marinette certainly seemed uncomfortable about something Alya was saying, and it certainly _looked_ like it was about Adrien.  It usually was, with Marinette.

\--

It took until lunch for Alya to finally accept her requests to stop talking about it, but Marinette got the feeling that _that_ was about only about 3/4ths that she respected that Marinette was getting uncomfortable, and the remainder that she had bigger plans on her mind.

Alya’s plans would have to wait, though, as Marinette’s phone buzzed urgently in her pocket.

She pulled it out, and…  An Akuma.  Oh great, now she was going to have to find some way out of the room, and-

Alya grinned suggestively at her.  “Better get going, huh lovebird?”  At Marinette’s look, “Oh, I’ve got your timing _all figured out.”_

_During Akuma attacks? How did that even-_

It didn’t matter.  Alya had somehow decided that she needed her privacy when Akumas attacked, which was accurate.  She’d decided that Adrien needed his privacy when Akumas attacked, which was _also_ accurate.

How she’d gotten there from her starting point was… questionable, at best.

But Marinette ducked out of the lunchroom and was glad that at least Adrien wouldn’t be an easy target for Alya to hassle while she was out.  For now, though, Paris needed saving.

Barely a minute later, she was standing on a nearby rooftop, and Chat Noir was standing next to her.

“Good morning, milady,” he said, grinning, “ready to save Paris?”

“You seem in a good mood, today,” she said, as the started on their way to where the Akuma had been sighted.

“Oh, I’m feeling _pawesome.”_   She couldn’t keep the expression off her face, and glanced over to see him grinning at her.

“Why do all my friends love annoying me?” she said more to herself than anything.

“Because you make the cutest face when you’re annoyed.”

“Oh great, so people only like me when I’m annoyed.”

“Oh, you always have the cutest face.”

She’d need to ask him, later, what he thought about his alter-ego.  Was he only faking Adrien Agreste?  Did the Adrien she’d fallen in love with even exist?

\--

Chat Noir had run low on time at the end of the fight, but nothing even scratched him, he hadn’t even had anything to use his cataclysm _on_ , which was quite an achievement.

So, when he slipped acrobatically through the window back into the boys’ bathroom, he was feeling quite accomplish.

“Claws in,” he said, and Adrien was back, still grinning.

“Not bad, if I say so myself,” straightening his overshirt.

The smile froze, as the material disintegrated.  Plagg yelped as his traditional hiding place vanished.

“Hey, kwami habitats are already shrinking!” he said.

Adrien shook his head, and shuddered; if he’d straightened out his hair, first or-

It didn’t bear thinking about.  Nothing had happened, and besides, considering the villains he went up against, he _always_ risked his life, if he thought about it.

It was fine.  As far as anyone else could tell, it was just a bit awkward.

He stepped out of the bathroom, and came face to face with Alya Cesaire.

She stepped back, and looked him up and down; he was suddenly _very_ aware of his shirt’s fate.

“Getting a bit reckless, I see,” she said, with a massive grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Alya, why do you have to say things so vaguely?


	3. Everybody is Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien discovers that Alya knows, and makes his own conclusions.
> 
> Marinette tells Alya the truth... Technically.
> 
> Everybody is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To answer the previous chapter, everyone says Black Chats are unlucky.

“A-Alya?” He said.  Reckless was right, but surely she didn’t mean-

“I’ve figured out your secret,” she said with a wink.

“You mean,” he said, suddenly unable to breathe, “how I’m…”

 _“Oh yeah,”_ she said, grinning and nodding, clearly loving every second of this.

He’d thought he was ready for anything this morning.  Unfortunately, he hadn’t been prepared for someone figuring out his identity.  No wonder she’d given him that knowing smile this morning.  At least they were friends, but Alya ran the Ladyblog, which could be a massive threat.

“You _can’t tell anyone,_ ” he said.

“Relax,” she said, “I know how important it is to keep this kind of thing secret.  I actually have a few secrets of my own.  As it stands, only you and I know.  Well, and Marinette, of course.”

“Of course,” he repeated.  If Alya knew, of _course_ she would tell Marinette.

“Just thought I should let you know,” said Alya, “I’ve got your back.”  And she walked away.

Adrien stood there, letting his mind churn through what had just happened.

She had her own secrets?  Something that compared to…

He gasped.

 _Of course;_ she was Rena Rouge.  They looked similar enough he was surprised he hadn’t figured it out before.  Who _else_ would Ladybug have trusted with a Miraculous?  Alya had been her staunchest supporter since the beginning.

\--

Hmm… Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t clarified that her secret hadn’t been quite the same as his.  Nino might get some awkward questions after that.

No matter, it was better he thought she’d done something scandalous than that she was Rena Rouge.

She sat back down next to Marinette.

“So,” she said.

“Alya…”

“Yes, Marinette?” she said, turning with an angelic smile.

“If you could, I don’t know, let this go?”

“Oh come on,” she said, “I’m not talking about it to anybody but the two of you.  That’s got to be better than the alternative, right?”

Marinette inhaled.  “Yes, but, have you considered, _I already know, and I really don’t like talking about it.”_

That was fair, it just didn’t… “Alright,” she said, “but you’ve gotta admit, if _you’d_ found something like this out, you’d want to talk about it with someone.”

\--

Marinette would admit that, _yes,_ she wouldn’t want to keep this quiet, which was why she’d combed over the whole issue with Tikki last night.  Tikki had been, helpful, she guessed, although it had felt odd to remember that she’d known, at _least_ since Dark Owl had attacked.

“Alright,” she said, eventually, “But can we do this somewhere other than in school?  I’ve been getting weird looks.”

Alya sighed.  “Fine, I guess.”

…

She’d had time.  Time to get her story straight.  Time to prepare for what she was going to have to do.  It was going to be unpleasant, to say the least, but even Tikki had agreed that keeping her identity secret superseded her desire to get out of this situation.

And now, she was sitting as comfortably as she _could_ be in the circumstances, on a pillow on the ground in her room.  The time, 5 P.M.  The mood?  Tense.

“Okay,” said Alya, “let’s take it from the top.  When did all this start?”

“Earlier than you’d think,” said Marinette, the words already practiced, “close to the beginning of the school year.”

“ _Really,_ ” said Alya.  “How?”

“How?”

“How did it start.”

A weak answer from an outside perspective, but her only option.  “He actually told me that he liked me.”  Accurate.  Adrien had, in fact, made it clear that he liked her.

“Details?”

“He was all,” she gestured vaguely, “flirty.”

“Adrien Agreste, flirty,” said Alya, flatly.

“I wouldn’t have believed it either.”  She still wasn’t sure that she _did._   “And, well, I liked him, he liked me.”  Still technically true.

“And you started sneaking off to meet each other, every time an Akuma attacked.”

“Exactly.”  And it was exact, to the point that Marinette had that same sense of dissonance, because she still had no idea _why_ Alya thought that made sense with her assessment.  “and it had to be a secret.  Adrien didn’t like that, at first, but when you consider the, kind of people we deal with regularly, it _had_ to be a secret.”

Alya nodded, grudgingly, “Paparazzi… Chloe.”

“Chloe’s caused a fair bit of trouble for us.”  _Still_ accurate.

“But why me?  Why couldn’t I know?”

“Alya, you’re my best friend.  You know that.  Everyone else knows it too.  If anyone got suspicious, _you’re_ the person they’d come for.  Besides, you’ve known for maybe two days now?  I’m already getting funny looks.”

“I mean,” said Alya, “If I’d known the whole time, I could have been better prepared, maybe even helped you.”

“That’s the other thing.  At the beginning, I didn’t really know you.  We’d only just met.”

Alya nodded.  “Alright, I’ll give you that one.”

“And by the time I actually _thought_ about the fact that we were properly friends, it felt like it would be awkward to explain.  Which it is.”

“And you decided to keep pretending to have a crush on a boy you were already together with… why, exactly?”

“I mean, I _did_ have a crush on him.  It took me a long time to feel like I actually knew him as a person.  We were kind of together, but also kind of not.  I knew I loved him, I just, didn’t feel like we were really friends yet.  He didn’t seem quite as interested in me when there wasn’t an Akuma attack going on.  I really _have_ been happy to have made progress on that this year.”

“Well, at least you haven’t been keeping _everything_ a secret.”

“No.  Not everything.”

"Good...  Next question-"

\--

During lunch, Rose had easily recognized that Marinette and Adrien had both left at almost the same time.

She had, naturally, excitedly commentated her stream of thoughts on the matter to Juleka.

Fairly loudly.

Loudly enough, in fact, that Alix, who had been nearby, had caught wind of it, and asked what they were talking about.

Well, granted that she’d been part of the group already devoted to helping Marinette get Adrien’s attention, it seemed only fair that she might hear that something had apparently worked.

Alix had thought the whole thing was pretty unlikely, because ‘Had they _seen_ Marinette trying to talk to Adrien?’  It just didn’t seem plausible.

At that point, Max had turned around to add that ‘He had attempted to ignore the conversation, but since he had failed, he would admit that Alix’s view seemed most likely, and that while he hadn’t _known_ Marinette had a crush on Adrien, Markov had suggested the idea, and it had seemed plausible.’

Kim chimed in to say that he’d thought it was pretty obvious that Marinette liked him, and that ‘people in love could go beyond their old limits.  Trust him, he knew.’

And any discussion that had both Kim, who had little sense of subtlety, and Rose, who had a penchant for forgetting to control her volume when she was excited, was bound to get the rest of the class’ attention.

Ivan only knew what Mylene had told him, and no, he hadn’t told anyone else.  He thought the idea of the two of them together was nice, which Mylene told them was his way of saying ‘adorable,’ and that she agreed.  She honestly wasn’t sure whether Rose was right or not, but knew that Marinette had a strong mind, and it was entirely possible she had overcome her fears.

Nobody asked Nathaniel.  He didn’t offer anything, although he silently thought the whole thing was a lot of words out of not a lot of substance.

Sabrina, a few tables away, stared resolutely ahead, and hoped that Chloe would remain as engrossed by her phone as she’d been.  The later Chloe heard about this, the better, especially since Chloe was extremely possessive of Adrien (Frankly, she wondered if that wasn’t the real question; whether Chloe was just possessive, or if she actually _liked_ him.  It would certainly give _her_ peace of mind on… Well, never mind that.)

And Nino?  Nino ate well, and with his best noise-cancelling headphones, managed to put the finishing touches on a section of a track that he showed off to Alya at the end of lunch.

She loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you thought he was going to guess she was Carapace.  
> He's just a little bit less oblivious than that.


	4. Marinette's Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is conflicted and confused. But what's new?

Marinette had been under the impression that she’d had a handle on the situation, as much as that was possible when she had no ability to control anything going on.

She’d believed that, that was, until late that night, when there had been a knock on her ceiling.

She opened the trap door.

“Hey, Marinette,” said Chat Noir.

“Hello, Chat Noir,” she said, trying to forget for a second that this was Adrien Agreste, “Why are _you_ here so late?”

He shrugged.  “Just felt like talking.  Didn’t really feel like texting you.”

_Didn’t really feel like texting her?_

“So you came by to visit in person.”  _What was she supposed to do.  Head up to the roof?  Invite him in?  Invite Adrien Agreste into her room?_

She managed to find an answer as a breeze blew outside.

“It’s kind of chilly out there,” she said, “would you like to come in?”

“Thanks,” he said, smiling.  _That was Adrien’s smile.  She’d seen it on Chat Noir before, but it was definitely Adrien’s smile._

He slipped down the ladder, and landed silently on top of her bed.

Marinette backed down the ladder and sat at her desk.  “So… You just came by to talk, huh?”

“Yup,” he said, “figured since you knew who I really am, I might as well take advantage of it, right?”

“Because what?” she said.

He laughed.  “Alya told me that the two of you knew.  You don’t need to pretend.”

“Ah.  Right.”  _Alya did not know who he really was, and even if she did, she didn’t know that Marinette knew, so what the hell was he talking about?_ “So… if you just wanted to talk, did you have something you wanted to talk _about?”_

“Well,” he said, draping himself across the bed, his whole upper body hanging down, “I was thinking, actually… Alya’s got, I guess some serious _insight_ into what it means to be a superhero,” he hesitated, and then amended, “because she pays so much attention, I mean, not… Anything else.”

He coughed, and continued.  “I was just wondering if _you_ had any questions.  I figured it might be a bit awkward to ask me as Adrien, so I might as well come by and offer as Chat Noir.”

“Very considerate of you,” said Marinette, managing to recover her composure, despite still having _no clue why he knew that she knew,_ “and you’re sure you didn’t just want something to eat?”

He twisted his whole body so he she could actually see the side of his face.  “I mean… I’m not opposed to the idea.”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep a smile off her face.  “Alright, kitty-“ and stopped because _oh god, she’d just called Adrien Agreste ‘kitty’._   That wasn’t even something she did as Marinette.  That was pure Ladybug.

She stepped swiftly to the ladder to downstairs, and unlocked it.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

“You’re the best!” he called, just loud enough for her to hear as she slipped downstairs.

Nobody batted an eyelid as she snagged enough pastry to make a sumo wrestler blush; it was well established that even if it was unclear what she was doing with all those calories, (Hero work, mostly) she _always_ ate everything she took.  Her parents agreed, when the topic came up, that it was kind of impressive.

Back up the ladder, and push up the door, and…

“Oh, that looks fantastic.”  He was so far off of her bed she couldn’t even tell how he was still hanging.

“Well it ought to, we make a living on it.”

He reached out, and she held the tray of baked goods behind her.

“Now, now, Chat Noir, in this house we don’t eat while upside-down.”

“Aw, c’mon, it’s comfortable.”

She poked his nose, and he jolted, his tenuous hold on the bed coming loose.

He was on his feet almost immediately, but hadn’t quite been able to disguise that for a brief instant he’d been flopped on the ground.

Catlike reflexes indeed.

“Very well, if you insist,” he said, the picture of dignity that had _absolutely not been on the floor a second ago_.  She couldn’t help but giggle at that, and was relieved to see him smile back.

“Alright,” she said, offering the plate, “take your pick.”

He took a bite, chewed for a second, and slowly swooned back against her desk.  “Delicious.”

She shook her head, unable to stop the smile.  “Careful, don’t go smashing my keyboard.”

“Oh, but how am I to control my fall when this piece of heaven has so thoroughly slain me?”

“You’re not in a Shakespeare play, Chat Noir, for all you called me Princess that one time.”

“I did do that, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

Marinette’s smile went waxy for a second as she remembered that this was _Adrien Agreste.  Adrien had called her princess._   _She had just poked Adrien’s nose, and giggled when he was affronted by it._

He’d already moved on to his next target, having given up on leaning on her desk, instead electing to slide down into a sitting position, taking advantage of how low she was holding the tray to make easy pickings.

“So,” he said, “don’t think I was lying when I offered to answer questions.  If you’ve got anything you want to know, I’m game to answer.”

Well, if he was offering…

“Alright,” she said, “I didn’t think Alya would tell you we knew who you were,” _especially considering Alya didn’t know._

“I guess she figured it would be better to let me know she was up to help,” he said, “so she explained things after the attack during lunch.”

“Oh,” said Marinette, and after an instant’s intense thought, “I noticed she’d left.”

“I mean, she kept it pretty simple, just ‘I know your secret,’ and, well, she told me you knew too.”

Marinette stared straight ahead.  Should she just say ‘That’s not the secret she meant?’

Internally, she jumped ahead.  Adrien would ask what secret she _had_ meant.  She would either be forced to fabricate a _different_ secret, or… Or she’d have to explain to him that Alya thought they had been canoodling during villain attacks.  That alone made the idea nigh-impossible; she didn’t want to tell either Adrien _or_ Chat Noir that, for very different reasons, and considering they were the same person, she didn’t even want to consider (She had a crush on _Chat Noir,_ _how did that even happen_ ).  Besides, he’d have his own questions, which might get far too close to _her_ secret. 

Chat Noir had already eaten at least two more cookies by the time she finished thinking, and had started on some bread.

“Do they not feed you at home?”

He looked at her, down at the tray, and then back up at her.  “They feed me for a busy schedule, but not quite ‘Saving Paris’ kinds of busy.  Superheroism is hungry work.  Besides, even if I had all the food I could ask for, I’d _still_ be happy to sample your family’s _delicious_ creations.”

“Very kind of you,” she said.

“As I must always be,” he said, bowing.

“Actually, about that 'always,' I’ve kind of been wondering,” she said, hesitantly.

“Yes?” he said, half the slice of bread already gone.

“You act different in costume.  Like, part of the reason your identity stayed a secret was because, for a long time, I couldn’t imagine Chat Noir being the same person as Adrien Agreste.  Are you… Is this… You still don’t seem like the same people… Person, I guess.”

He looked up at her, and waited for a long second.  Eventually, he sighed.  “I know.  It’s strange, because I’ve been in your room before, if you remember.  We were training for the tournament?”

She nodded.

“It’s the same room, the same you, but… I don’t know if it’s the same me.  I know that I don’t have to _pretend_ to be Adrien.  But I don’t have to pretend I’m Chat Noir either.  _This is me,_ you know?  And it’s still me outside of costume.  I’m still me either way, but not the _same_ me.  Does that make sense.”

Marinette breathed in, and finally, looked back with a smile.  “Yeah.  Yeah it does.”

“Cool,” he said, and Adrien smiled.

Then he looked up, and Chat Noir said, “Now if you could part with… The cinnamon roll, that’ll be my next target.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been a lot of fun, because I've been able to do crack things, but still take parts of it seriously. I honestly really like this chapter.


	5. Why are we friends, again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is still perplexed by Adrien and Chat Noir. And by Alya.
> 
> Chloe finds a betting ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It occurred to me that not everybody reading this is necessarily familiar with it's namesake.  
> As I understand it, there is a party game, in the same vein as 'Spin the Bottle,' called '7 minutes in heaven'. You lock two people in a closet for 7 minutes.  
> Considering Alya's assumptions, I imagine you can piece together the remainder from that.

A new day dawned, and Marinette, oddly enough, felt better about her circumstances.  Maybe it was that Chat Noir had stayed awhile, plying her family’s baking with compliments.  She hadn’t seen anybody quite as enamored with _bread_ before.  Sure, she ate as much as he did after a tough villain, but he seemed to really savor it.

Which meant that it was oddly disconcerting to see him eating lunch, thoroughly and methodically, in stark contrast to the previous night.  Equally disconcerting was remembering Chat Noir, seeing his face, his _everything,_ on Adrien.  Chat Noir, sitting quietly, slicing a banana and eating it piece by piece.  Chat Noir, with that soft, utterly polite laugh at what Nino had just said.  Even Chat Noir being friends with Nino Lahiffe was strange; Well, in all fairness, on the occasions when Nino had given his opinion, it was clear that of the two heroes, he was a bigger fan of Chat Noir.

Even so, it was enough to keep Marinette fairly quiet for the beginning of lunch, a fact that, though she didn’t know it, resulted in significant discussion behind her.  The betting pool, established early that morning, mostly because Kim had made four separate bets, had already tripled in size, and her unexpected silence resulted in a few hastily brokered deals.

Max had already made a small sum simply for bookkeeping everything.

\--

“Aw, why not?” said Alya, an utterly unnecessary pout on her face.

Nino seemed unaffected by the expression.  “C’mon dude, you _know_ I can’t show it to you.  It’s just how it goes; you show somebody a few clips, and the rest of the time you’re working, you’re wondering if they’ll be surprised by how different it is at the end.”

“Even if I say please?” said Alya, stepping up the expression to a degree that even Manon would have taken notes from.

Nino looked for a second, and seemed to fight, a soft smile on his face.  Then, he laughed gently.  “Even if you say please.”

Alya rolled her eyes.  “Oh, come on,” she said, but she was smiling, “that always works on Marinette.”

“And yet you never use it on me,” said Marinette.

“That’s because it’s too easy.  It’s not even fun.”

“Right,” said Marinette, turning to the other two, “Alya thinks it’s more ‘fun’ to bother me about it until I’m fit to die from annoyance.”

“Because it _is_ fun,” said Alya, her expression almost devilish.

“Remind me why we’re friends?”

Alya gasped in mock affront.  “Because we care so much about each other!  …  And we agree that Chloe is a menace, who must be stopped.”

“Dudes, I think even _Adrien_ agrees on that.”

Adrien scratched the back of his neck.  “Yeah, kind of.  I mean, she was my only friend for a long time, but she’s definitely pretty rough.”

“Okay, but definitely the first one,” said Alya.

Marinette looked at her, clearly skeptical.

“Plus, I know all your secrets,” said Alya, “better to have me on _your_ side than anywhere else, right?”

“Maybe,” said Marinette, “I already have enough of you weaseling out my secrets when we _are_ friends.  I’d hate to think what you’d do to learn them if we _weren’t._ ”

“There you go,” said Alya, grinning, “and, imagine what I could _do_ with all those secrets.”

For an instant, Marinette was tempted to say that _this_ was why she was a terrifying wielder for the Fox Miraculous, but restrained herself.  “So, you’re saying we’re friends because I’m afraid to _not_ be your friend?”

“Maybe a bit,” said Alya.

Marinette looked at her blankly for a second, and then smiled brightly.  “Well, consider me sold, best friend!”

Adrien snorted ungracefully.

There was the sound of a few things being hastily scribbled behind her, a few muffled bargains.

“I’m just glad she doesn’t do that to me,” said Nino, smiling gently.

“That’s just because you don’t keep secrets from me,” she said.

He shrugged, “because you don’t keep them from me.”

“And that’s why you two are the best couple in the school,” said Adrien.

Alya raised her eyebrows.  “High praise.”

“What can I say?” said Adrien, “I’ve never seen two people quite as in-sync as you two.”

Alya stared into the distance for a second, and Marinette was intensely glad that Nino was there to stop her saying something that might have suggested that she _didn’t_ know he was Chat Noir, and instead believed...  What she did.

Huh.  Actually, Nino was her best defense in this scenario.  Keep Nino near Adrien, and Alya couldn’t _do_ anything.

Well, that would be worth keeping in mind for later, but for now, lunch was most of the way over, and she hadn’t even properly _started_ on her lunch.

She didn’t notice what was happening behind her.

\--

What was happening behind her had, in fact, started approximately two minutes ago.

Chloe had gotten bored.  Normally, when that happened, she would just find something to interest her for a while, but today hadn’t been her most… imaginative day.  And so, out of options, Sabrina being _no_ help, having even gone so far as to leave her for a few minutes earlier, she was forced to seek out someone else to amuse her.

And so, she had come across her classmates, seemingly enraptured by what appeared to be the _extremely boring_ antics of four of her classmates.

“And what’s so interesting about _them_?” she said.

“Marinette overcame her fear and now she and Adrien are together!” said Rose, “And they’re going to-

“ _Actually,”_ said Max, “that is entirely unclear.  The best odds are that she has _moved on_ from Adrien, and may or may not have established a relationship with one ‘Luka Couffaine,’ although, there are other theories.”

Chloe didn’t see the upset look Rose gave Juleka, nor did she hear the soft, “I never said I was sure.  He definitely really likes her, though,” in response.

Chloe was busy _not_ being bored, and, more specifically, busy ignoring the remainder of what _anyone_ was saying, and deciding that she _absolutely_ needed to make it clear that _Miss Dupain-Cheng_ was not to so much as _breathe_ in Adrien’s vicinity.  Max gave her an annoyed look, and then muttered, “Usually, when assessing a situation, it’s better to acquire _all_ of the facts.”

To everyone else, all they saw was Chloe freezing in place, and then almost too quiet to hear, saying “Ridiculous.  Utterly ridiculous,” and then storming away to plan her next move.

\--

Sabrina, who had seen this coming as soon as Chloe had stood up, but been powerless to stop it, pursed her lips.

Well.  Alright.  This would be a mess, but it could potentially be a profitable mess, and it wasn’t like it would even be to Chloe’s disadvantage.  After all, wouldn’t Chloe be _happy_ to have her friends… Friend, be rich?

And to make a fair bit of money, all she had to do.

“So,” she said, innocently, “I’ve always wondered why you hate the idea of Adrien being together with someone.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.  “Please.  If he should like _anyone_ , it should be me.  I was his best friend for _years._   And of all people, _Dupain-Cheng._ ”

Sabrina kept her composure.  “So…  You like him?”

Chloe laughed, a harsh sound, “What!?  Of course not!  But if he’s going to be asking _anyone_ out, it should be his oldest friend.”  She paused, and said, almost sadly, “he never did.”

Sabrina tried not to let her thoughts show on her face.

  1. Chloe definitely had a heart, somewhere in there.
  2. She _didn’t_ like Adrien. At least, not like that.



There were dollar signs in here somewhere, she just knew it.  If she could get a few other people to make bets that Chloe _did_ have a crush on Adrien…  Well, suffice to say her allowance wouldn’t be her _only_ income this week.

But for now, she had to help Chloe get ready to accost Marinette.  After all, what else were friends for?


	6. Everything Goes to Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette unlocks what basically amounts to Hysterical Strength.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fell behind on my classic update schedule. I couldn't quite figure out how I wanted the remainder of the fic to go. Finally, though, I think I figured it out.

To Marinette, it felt like a time bomb.  There wasn’t a way to stabilize things safely.

She could tell Alya the truth… Giving away both her identity _and_ Adrien’s to someone who’d been looking for them for over a year now.  However much she trusted Alya, that was still borderline.

She could tell Adrien the truth… Which would involve telling him what Alya had seen, what she’d assumed, and probably giving away her identity in the process, not to mention that because Alya would still think they were together, either they’d need to fabricate a breakup for a relationship that had never happened, or they’d have to, well, _fake_ one that didn’t exist, which would have been terrifying with either Chat Noir _or_ Adrien, and was _worse_ because she had to deal with both of them simultaneously.

She could tell _both_ of them the truth… And double up on compromising her identity, in exchange for not having to keep awkward, fake secrets anymore.

So, she hadn’t told _anyone anything…_ Which meant that she couldn’t control how this tenuous balance would fall apart.

There wasn’t a good option, and she got the feeling that she was currently taking the worst one.  But what was she supposed to do?

She _wanted_ to ask Master Fu, and she’d sworn she would do it, as soon as she’d worked up the nerve to explain the entire situation; it wasn’t easy, even with Tikki’s encouragement.

Finally, though, she hadn’t been able to hold out any longer.  Today.  She was going to explain everything to him today, and get some actual good _advice,_ for once.

All she had to do was make it through the school day without incident, which meant, at this point, that she wasn’t even surprised when, barely an hour into the day, the earth rumbled underfoot.

Alright.  Either it was a natural disaster, and Ladybug needed to be on hand immediately, or it was an Akuma, and she _really_ needed to be on hand immediately.  She just needed the right opportunity, and…

The sound of something massive bending and breaking outside the window seemed to have drawn the attention of class at large.

There was a sharp sensation in her ribs, as Alya elbowed her.  She looked pointedly at the door, then back at Marinette.  “Careful you don’t knock your teeth together,” she said under her breath, winking.

_Did Alya actually think this was a romantic mood for anyone?_

It didn’t matter.  Let her think whatever got Ladybug on the scene fastest, and Marinette would live with the consequences.

And she was out, just after Adrien.

Adrien did a quick 360, only stopping when he turned to face her.

“Hey, Marinette” he said, “Sorry, I’ve got to go.  You know how it is.”  _More than he knew._

A final glance around him, and he ducked down out of the windows’ lines of sight.

“Plagg?  Claws out.”  Chat Noir stood up, not seeming to notice the now unstable ground, gave her a jaunty nod, and was off, out of the building.

Personally, Marinette preferred a slightly more… secure location to transform, so she made for the bathrooms.

Soon enough, Ladybug was after her partner, ready to take on whatever villain Hawkmoth could throw at them.

\--

Dozens of collapsed buildings, three retreats, a villainous origin story involving being fired from a construction job, the rescue of no less than two of said villain’s frankly infuriating superiors, a trip through the subway system, a Cataclysm that collapsed one more building (this one, thankfully, still under construction), and a Lucky Charm that gave her nothing more or less than a large felt blanket later, and they had successfully defeated Faultless.  All it had taken was one wild swing to shatter the earth beneath _himself,_ and he was immobilized, unable to disturb the earth further without crushing himself.

“Pound it!” They said in unison, as the confused construction worker looked around, taking in the only recently reversed destruction.

“Alright,” said Chat Noir, looking at his ring, “It looks like I’ll be _pressed_ for time, but luckily I’m not clawstrophobic.  Shall we go, Milady?  I need to talk to you.”

They were off, again, back towards the school.

“There’s a problem,” he said.

“Oh?” she said, the very picture of a person who was not intimately aware of the trouble he was talking about.

“Two people know who I am,” he said, “I don’t _think_ they’ll tell anyone, but you should know, Alya Cesaire?  Author of the Ladyblog?  She knows, and so does Marinette, her friend.”

_Half right._

“And…” he said, “I’m pretty sure that Alya is Rena Rouge?”

She kept her face straight.  _That was new._

“Well,” she said… She should probably scold him for losing his identity?  But then again, she knew perfectly well that it wasn’t _his fault._   _Or_ hers.  “We can’t turn back the clock.  This isn’t good, but the important thing at this point is to not make it worse.”

He seemed relieved.  “Alright.  I never asked how she found out, but I’ll try to be _extra_ careful, from here on out.”

“Good,” she said, barely noticing him dropping away from her.

_They’d arrived._

Chat Noir touched down in front of the school, where-

The insides of her mind switched from sensible thoughts to a level of profanity she didn’t even know the words to express in 0 seconds flat.

That was Alya standing outside.  Alya Cesaire, massive fan of heroes, who _didn’t_ know Chat Noir’s identity, about to _learn_ Chat Noir’s identity whether she asked for it or not, and-

She didn’t need to hear the ‘Claws in,’ to know that it was too late to do anything.

\--

Alya froze where she was.

“Alya?” said… Adrien.  Definitely Adrien Agreste, who was Chat Noir, who was Adrien, who suddenly had an even more solid reason for running off during crises, and _Marinette had some questions to answer._

“Hey, Alya, you okay?” he seemed genuinely concerned.

“You’re _what.”_

“What?”

“Since why are you him?  You haven’t done an even- I…”

He was confused, now.  “Since why am I… should I call an ambulance, Alya?”

“ _Nope!_ I’m good… Just.  Didn’t know about the cat.  Chat Noir.”

 _Properly_ confused now.  “Wait, you didn’t know I was Chat Noir?  But… But you said you knew!  You said you knew my secret!”

“I _thought_ I knew your secret,” said Alya, “apparently not!”

“But if that wasn’t what you meant, what did you think _was_ my secret?”

Alya inhaled deeper than felt comfortable, trying to stall for time.

“Y’know,” she said, voice a few notches too high, “nevermind!”

\--

It was a half-minute ago.  _She had to get inside.  She had to get to here immediately, and do damage control._

Right.  Back to the bathroom.

Neither of them noticed Ladybug fly by overhead.  She slipped through a window into the girls’ bathroom, and down into the stall she’d left locked when she’d left.

Now, she had to get to the main entrance, and she had to do it fast.

“Tikki, spots off,” she said, and opened the door.

She stopped.

Standard school protocol for earthquakes, which that Akuma had been, basically, was to get inside the nearest bathroom, and hunker down.

“Marinette?” said Mylene.

The room was dead silent.  “That bet was supposed to be a joke,” said Nathaniel so faintly that he was barely audible. “I’m rich.”

“Well!” said Marinette, brightly. “I see you sent out Alya and Adrien to look for me, I’d better go make sure they know I’m here!”  She walked jauntily out of the bathroom, and straight into Mme. Bustier.

“Marinette!” said the teacher, “I’m so glad to see you’re okay.  Where were-

“Sorry, ma’am,” said Marinette, “I just had a bit of trouble with something.  I guess you sent Alya and Adrien to look for me?  I’ll just go make sure they know I’m here.”

“I- Of- Of course, that seems-“ she said, as Marinette, barely noticing her, walked away. “If you see Chloe and Sabrina, they went to look for you too!”

“Of course, ma’am!” said Marinette, still grinning, making for the stairs.

It felt like everything was on fire, but because _everything_ was burning, effectively, _nothing_ was.  There was nothing left to burn, really, so why worry about it?  This was the worst-case scenario, and now that she was in it-

“Dupain-Cheng!” came a voice from off to her left, grating and angry.

She turned.  “Oh, hi, Chloe!”

Chloe seemed taken aback by the response.

“I heard you came out to look for me!  I’m so sorry to have worried you, but now the class is worried about _you!_   They don’t like to show it, but they really care about you.”

“They…” said Chloe, blushing.  She rallied, “Of course they do, why _wouldn’t_ they care about…”  She seemed to lose her trail of thought.

“You too, Sabrina,” she said, still smiling brightly, “you guys better get up there and let them know you’re alright!”

Sabrina looked back and forth between them, and, as Chloe dazedly made for the stairs, followed her, looking back at Marinette, who had already turned for the main entrance, with what could only be described as awed terror.

And _there_ they were, two of her best friends in the world, in some kind of confusion.  Now _that_ wouldn’t stand, would it.

\--

Adrien looked up as Marinette walked up to them.

“Hey, Marinette,” he said, “I…”

“Sorry I didn’t tell you Alya didn’t know,” said Marinette, smiling as if nothing was odd about this encounter, “she didn’t know I’d been covering for you behind the scenes, so I guess it seemed awkward to tell you that I’d found out you were Chat Noir before she did.  She’s the reporter, after all, it would be kind of a slight, don’t you think?”

Alya seemed to stagger back at that, but Adrien managed to stand his ground, until-

“By the way, would you like to go on a date sometime?”

 _Now_ he staggered.  “I- what?  I- sure?  That sounds great, but-“

“Great!  But we should probably get back to the class now, they’ve got to be worried sick about us!”

Marinette turned and walked away, already heading back towards the stairs.

He looked at Alya, who looked back at him.

“Come on, you two,” she said, “They’re waiting for us!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “The saying, 'Life is just one damn thing after another,' is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.”


	7. Two Weeks Later (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world didn't explode when the class discovered Marinette's identity. It didn't kill anyone for Alya to know who Adrien really was. Life continues, against all odds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it was appropriate for this story to be 7 chapters long, so it's nice that it worked out to that.

It had been two weeks and a metric _ton_ of damage control, but the results…

Well, she was living her best life, and that was a fact.

She walked into homeroom, and was greeted, not just by her closest friends, but by a scatter of voices from further back.

She smiled at Adrien, and he smiled back, blushing slightly.

 _Well, she’d blushed around him so long, a bit of recompense seemed only right._   It seemed like he had some trouble comprehending what had happened (Not to say he didn’t give every impression that he was happy about things).

Of course, if he seemed a bit flustered around her as Marinette, it had been worse as Ladybug.  He’d been obviously conflicted as Chat Noir the last time they’d seen each other, before he’d explained that he’d met someone else, or, rather, that someone had asked him out.  He’d said that she reminded him of her, which had seemed appropriate, in the circumstances.

It had been peculiar to see him almost at a loss with her, sad to have moved on from her, but still cautiously hopeful.  She’d managed to assuage the feeling only a bit later, though, as Adrien had, of course, told her about what had happened only a few minutes later, as Marinette.

And Alya… Alya had understood the deception, although she was still jokingly suspicious that Marinette still had a few more layers to uncover (True, not that Marinette was telling _her_ that.  Besides she would guaranteeably understand one, and the other… Marinette would tell her the other one… eventually, when it didn’t matter as much).

Nino… She wasn’t sure exactly _how,_ but Nino hadn’t noticed her enter that bathroom, and hadn’t noticed _any_ of this.  Possibly, that was because he had been hard at work on his most recent song while they’d been hunkered down in the bathroom.  He’d actually released the song, just last night, and the class had to agree that even though, individually, they might not have loved the style, it was a masterwork for what it was.

And… Also in the front row, and actually present in the moment she was thinking this…

Chloe looked up at her, and her expression… Anger, then confusion, and then, hesitantly, she nodded at Marinette, and turned away, ostensibly to talk to Sabrina.

Good.  Compared with how she’d been acting for _months,_ that was _much_ better.  The class had been of great help with the whole endeavor.

 _Speaking_ of the rest of the class…

Marinette still couldn’t believe how _quickly_ they’d formed a betting ring around her and Adrien, but she couldn’t argue with the facts.  Sabrina had made a small sum, of course, but Marinette knew for a _fact_ that the entire pack of high-quality pens Nathaniel was working with today had come from his offhanded bet that she was _really_ Ladybug.

And, seeing as everyone _knew_ that she was Ladybug, she’d had the peculiar sensation of de facto leadership.  They just, kind of, _listened to her._   Sure, she’d been able to convince them to help her before, but now, she barely had to say anything, and they _rallied._   If they hadn’t been on the same page, there would have been no _way_ of getting Chloe to where she was now (It helped, of course, that genuine kindness seemed to daze her).

Overall, things had gone far better than she’d expected, Marinette thought as she sat down.

Well… She wouldn’t say that having her identity known by so many people wasn’t _terrifying,_ or that _all_ of them were people she would have chosen (Although, thankfully, they’d been _exceptionally_ careful, thus far).  _Over half the class, knew for Pete’s sake._

She wouldn’t say that it wasn’t _strange_ to be surrounded by people who knew that she was Ladybug, while the few who _didn’t_ know included her three closest friends, and _everyone_ she knew who had ever wielded a Miraculous.

She wouldn’t say it hadn’t been _awful_ explaining the situation to Master Fu, whose expression of stern disappointment had felt like _death,_ and had lasted altogether too long.

She wouldn’t say that it had become somehow _easier_ to deal with escaping class; after all, they knew _she_ was supposed to leave, but nobody was supposed to know Adrien was Chat Noir.  At least Alya knew, and _she_ did her best to help him.  Not to mention that she had to deal with whoever the teacher was.

­­­­What she _would_ say was that it hadn’t been _nearly_ as ruinous as she’d expected.

“ _You’re_ in a good mood today,” said Alya, “I guess your date last night went well?”

Marinette laughed, and smiled warmly at the back of Adrien’s head.  She could just make out his ears turning red.  _Adorable._

“Yeah,” she said.  Then, after a second, “besides, it’s a good day.  Heroes Day is coming up, but I feel like we might as well get an early start, you know?”

Alya chuckled.  “Girl… I swear, you’re like, a Mini-Ladybug.”

“Well…?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.  That’s not a bad thing...  Ah!  Well, good morning, Maestro.”

“Mornin’,” said Nino, walking in, clearly pleased with the reception.

He walked over to his seat, and took a look back around the room.

His brow furrowed.

“Do things feel _weird_ in here to you guys?” he said.

“What do you mean,” said Adrien.

He sat down.  “Dunno.  Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention, but like, it _feels_ different in here, like everybody’s kind of… I dunno.  Did something change?”

He seemed to ponder it for a second, “Oh, right!  I mean, it’s not quite what I was thinking, but _you_ guys had a date last night, right?”

“Yes they did,” said Alya, suddenly in full on gossip-mode, despite the fact that her subjects were right next to her, and she _really_ didn’t know how it had gone. “I hear it was a _quite_ a good time.”

“Alya, you make it sound like we did something _other_ than just go out for coffee.  Believe me, I’ve had enough of you doing _that_ to last me a lifetime,” said Marinette, as Adrien’s ears had now gone even redder than before.

“See?  I missed something, didn’t I?  Something happened?”

Alya looked over at Marinette.  “I think I’m keeping that one to myself.  Sorry.”

“Aw, c’mon,” he said, “not even as a tip for the maestro?”

“Nope.”

Marinette silently wanted to strangle her, because all she had to say was that it wasn’t _her_ secret and Marinette knew for a _fact_ that this traced back directly to what she’d said last night about how she missed talking to him when he was busy with music.  Alya was, frankly, extremely lucky that Marinette was an _excellent_ friend.

“You’re…” Nino gave her a look Marinette hadn’t known he’d had in him.  “Are you sure you wanna start this game?”

“What’s the harm in starting a game I know I’ll win?”

That was, in fact, the tipping point of why Marinette hadn’t _already_ told Nino that it was on her behalf.

“And how do you know you’ll win,” said Nino, leaning forward with a loving grin.

“Which of us is _experienced_ with secrets?” she said, leaning so far forward their faces were almost touching.  “I’ll give you this one for free.  It’s me,” she said, her head pushing forward.

Nino pulled back before she could reach him, still smiling.  “Oh come on, dude,” he said, “Kisses are for _talkers_.”

Marinette, for her part, wouldn’t have called it devious, but she supposed Nino was from _Nino…_   Alya, for once, seemed to be at a loss, and if the secrets Alya was keeping hadn’t been _Marinette’s,_ Marinette would almost have been impressed.

“You think I should tell him it’s _my_ secret she’s keeping?” said Marinette, leaning forward to whisper in Adrien’s ear.

“Maybe,” said Adrien, “it is _your_ secret, after all.”

“I guess so,” she said, “but… They seem to be having fun, so maybe I can just get her to hold onto something else.  That should work, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Who knows, maybe _I_ won’t actually _need_ to keep any secrets for a while.” _Well, besides the one she’d gotten so good at keeping that she barely needed to think about it now._

Adrien blushed again.  “Actually, if you could hold on to… Maybe one secret, I’d be grateful.”

Marinette, though she was carefully avoiding letting it show, had to agree.

After all, Adrien was a celebrity; if word got around about how their date last night had ended… Well, suffice to say that while she’d kissed Adrien so hard _he_ couldn’t talk for a few minutes, the _tabloids_ were a different story.

What could she say?  When you faced so many of your greatest fears so close together, and came out the other side intact, some things just didn’t seem as impossible as they had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with an odd set of bookends for to finish things off, the story ends.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the experience.
> 
> Finally, if you've enjoyed this kind of shenanigans-based story, with a slight edge of legitimacy, you might enjoy 'If You Want a Job Done Right...' the story of how Plagg takes on Hawkmoth alone.


End file.
